Russian tanker reaches Nome to refuel ice-bound town

Two hoses used to transfer fuel from the Russian Russian-flagged tanker Renda are seen in Nome, Alaska, in this Jan. 16 handout picture. Renda, the Russian tanker escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy, reached the frozen Alaskan port of Nome with emergency fuel supplies on Jan. 13 after a 10-day voyage through ice-choked seas, the Russian company that owns the vessel said. David Mosley, an Anchorage-based spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, said the Renda would remain at least half a mile from shore, due to the shallow depth of Nome's harbor.

Grant Devuyst / USCG via AP

In a photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, personnel from Bonanza Fuel attach a fuel hose to the shoreside transfer connection at the Nome harbor on Jan. 16. The hose is to transfer fuel from the Russian tanker Renda.

Petty Officer Eric J. Chandler / USCG via AP

In a photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, two hose lines run from the Russian tanker Renda as they prepare for pressure tests Monday Jan. 16, in Nome, Alaska. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy has been escorting and breaking ice for the Renda since Jan. 3, 2012, to help deliver approximately 1.3 million gallons of gasoline and diesel to Nome, Alaska.

Grant Devuyst / USCG via AP

In a photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, fuel hoses bridge the gap between the tanker vessel Renda and the shoreside fuel transfer connection in Nome harbor Jan. 16. The fuel transfer of more than 1.3 million gallons began later that day.

From AP:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Russian tanker and its crew have begun offloading more than a million gallons of fuel to an iced-in city along the western coast of Alaska.

Two parallel hoses, 700 yards long each, are stretched between the tanker Renda and a pipeline that will deliver the fuel to storage tanks in the city of Nome. One is carrying gasoline, the other diesel fuel. For more on the story click here.